About Me

If I can just give to the world more than I take from it, I will be a very happy man. For there is no greater joy in life than to give. Motto : Live, Laugh and Love. You can follow me on Twitter too . My handle is @Raja_Sw.

Monday, June 17, 2013

7 x 7 x 7 x 7


 Here's the latest blogging assignment.

1.       Grab the 7th book from your bookshelf.
2.      Open it up to page 7.
3.      Pinpoint the 7th sentence on the page.
4.      Begin a poem/a piece of prose that begins with that sentence
5.      Limit it in length to 7 lines/7 sentences.


 So here goes. 

Text from A Pelican at Blandings – PG Wodehouse

Looking at Vanessa Polk, one could easily imagine her being kind to people, whether on or off ocean liners, for her warmth and geniality were obvious at a glance. Where Lady Constance had winced at the sight of Lord Emsworth like a Greek goddess finding a caterpillar in her salad, she smiled upon him as if their meeting was something to which she had been looking forward for years. It was a wide, charming, smile and it brought about a marked improvement in his morale. He felt, as so many did when smiled upon by Vanessa Polk, that he had found a friend.

‘How do you do?’ he said with a cordiality of which a short while before he would not have been capable. Then, remembering a good one, he added ‘Welcome to Blandings Castle. Tomorrow’ he said ‘I must show you my pig’. It was not an invitation he often extended to female visitors, for experience had taught him that the Empress was wasted on their shallow minds but here, he saw, was one worthy of the privilege. ‘Are you fond of pigs?’


 So here are my 7 lines:

Tomorrow, he said, I must show you my pig
All of Blandings, Ma’am, hath not one so big
Majestic is she, three hundred kilos and more
Outwardly tough, heart soft to the core
No ordinary pig, no, an Empress is she
A sight to behold, a joy for all to see

So Ma’am, er, are you fond of pigs?


9 comments:

Bhavya said...

Oh no I am not!!
How is the book btw? Never read it...

harvey said...

P. G. Wodehouse brings back such sweet memories!
Blandings Castle one of the best!
P. G. Wodehouse, it seems, brings the best out of you! It is in a proper Wodehousian tradition!
Well done!

Ava said...

Raja, PG Wodehouse could himself have written such a verse :)

Simply brilliant. I wish you would do more of this.

Yeh dil maange more.

Shilpa Garg said...

No! I aint fond of pigs though husband is crazy about them!
Wow! Those are some fabulous 7 lines!
Loved your take on the prompt! :)

Lalitha said...

I love the Empress of Blandings, and your verse makes her sound even more alluring than before! Those were my favorite books in my teen years, and still are, with Lord Emsworth, Aunt Dahlia and Jeeves being some of my favorite characters. Great writing as always!

Anonymous said...

I don't know about pigs, but I adore Wodehouse, and I'm sure he would have loved your take on that sentence! Well done, Raja. I love it. :-)

Richa Singh said...

PG Wodehouse!! This makes me nostalgic already :)the poetry is but so smooth I still have a smile on my face :)

Richa

Raja said...

@Bhavya, haha. Read the book ages ago, I don't remember it now. Happened to be in the right place at the right time on my shelf.:-) I need to re-read my Wodehouse - never disappoints me. :-)

@harvey, have been a big Wodehouse fan since my teens. Wasn't he just a master with words? And in such style too!

@Ava, arrey ab itna mat chadhao. Kahan Raja Bhoj kahan Gangu Teli. :-) What was that about sooraj ko roshni dikhaana? :-)

@Shilpa, waah, so at least your hubby is crazy about pigs! :-) Thanks for liking the short poem.

@Lalitha, indeed Blandings is so endearing with Lord Emsworth and the Empress. Love Wodehouse. Bertie Wooster/Jeeves, Psmith et al.

@dustedoff, there was a time (when I was about 17), when I read almost every Wodehouse novel out there. I was crazy about him. I have only a few now in my collection - but I treasure them. :-)

@Richa, thanks.:-) The actual magic is that of Wodehouse. I just borrowed a line and added six of my own. But glad you liked the poetry. :-)

Suzy said...

Absolutely awesome. I love PG Wodehouse. And as I am born in the year of the pig - I love pigs! thanks for visiting my post.